June 30, 2006

June 30, 2006, Greencastle, Ind. - Jim Alling, president of Starbucks Coffee USA, "graduated from DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., and Thunderbird, The Garvin School of International Management in Phoenix," notes today's edition of Decatur, Illinois' Herald & Review. "He had a lengthy career at Nestle USA before joining Starbucks in 1997. Now, Alling heads Starbucks' entire U.S. business." The story reports that Starbucks is opening its first store today in Decatur, the hometown of Alling, a 1983 graduate of DePauw.

In fact, the new Decatur Starbucks "is about a 10-minute bike ride from where he grew up," writes Mike Frazier. "So how does a Decatur boy rise to the top ranks of the Starbucks Coffee empire? 'I won't kid you; I've been very lucky,' Alling said. 'I've had a lot of opportunities.' He also credits lessons learned growing up in Decatur. 'That's a great city to learn a great work ethic,' Alling said."

The Decatur store brings to about 8,000 the number of Starbucks coffeehouses in the United States. It will employ 22 people who will serve a loyal customer base. "We have regular visitors literally stop in to see us 17 or 18 times per month, which is unusual for retailers," Alling tells the newspaper. "Some (stop in) even more than that."